Fire Back Don't Think (cont.)
Forgiveness doesn't mean forgetfulness
... According to the paper one man made this decision this is the primary mistake from which all problems followed. A decision of this nature can not be made without the involvement of the community. A pothole or a broken sidewalk is a different type of issue. It is easily made by one person based on the budget, priority, safety, and policy. I think pothole decisions can be made by the City of Elmwood's head of public works. Some actions in the City would be better done without so much involvement by council members. Council members should review not order the details of work done in the City. The judgment of the people employed should be respected. It seems some of our city council are too personally involved in the day to day operations of our City. It is the manner in which decisions are made, policies implemented, and the openness to the public that needs to be reviewed and changes made.
The time following the tree removal resulted in many emotional statements. Sifting through some of the fall out I will review and hopefully illuminate where people have fired back and not thought about the opinions they expressed. People quickly fall back on ad hominem attacks, which leads to some one else firing back with another anger missile. In the infamous words of Zell Miller "I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel." It is tempting to fall into the attitude; I'll just go beat some sense into that hard headed person of indistinct origin. It is not right and not practical, obviously you're not tougher than everyone. The hard headed types are very resistant to having any sense beaten into them. Words may not sway them, but the right words accompanied by calm action expressing a true spirit will move the majority of people. I will present the time line and try to walk through the different perspectives, to add some context for our future decisions. ...
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